New Year's Resolution

So, it being the start of a new year and all, I thought it might be wise to actually find something worthwhile to pursue, a goal that I can reach for. Now that I'm 26, I have finally come to terms with the fact that I may never be a princess. So now, throwing out the last bit of false hope I had secretly harbored, I turn to enriching my own life. And what better way to do that than with learning about other religions? I personally believe that you learn more about yourself and your own beliefs and faiths when you learn more about another person's. So now, I resolve to be less judgmental and to acutally find out why I don't believe in a religion. For example, the name Scientology leads me to believe that that would be just plain stupid to follow. However, there actually are people out there who believe in it. And I also have no idea what they really believe. So instead of knocking it down, I intend to first learn about it, and then knock it down afterwards. But I will do so with full knowledge of why it's dumb.

Don't get me wrong. I know a lot of major world religions have a lot of good things to offer, there is truth intermixed with non-truth. There is a reason that so many hundreds of millions of people follow other major religions. But I would also like to challenge you, and myself, that the next time you hear about someone else's beliefs, instead of closing your mind up and shallowly saying, "you're wrong", find out what the religion stands for. Find out where it differs from your own beliefs. And then you can actually have an intelligent conversation about it. (I say conversation because arguing religion has never been a good idea. It doesn't work: you can't argue with a person, tell them they are wrong, and then expect them to follow your faith.) Anyway, that's my resolution. I'll let you know how it goes and what I find.

About an hour later...So, I said this with all honesty, and then thought that I really would go find out more about Scientology. And there are so many things wrong with it on so many levels. I really found it hard (I mean impossible) to not laugh. So, check it out for yourself.
Official Church of Scientology Website

After some research, I found another webpage that sort of sums up the main points:
Watchman Expositor

And here's what Wikipedia has to say about it (and you know you have to believe everything on that site)
Wikipedia

This one has a lot of different links. The website is essentially set up to tear down Scientology. I highly recommend it.
Operation Clambake



I did a comparison of most of the points here, and they seem to be pretty much the same.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure that most of the people I know and who would be reading this blog are not Scientologists. If you are, I am sorry if this offends you, but really: give it at least a little bit of thought. I'm sure 2 minutes or less of actual reasoning should about do it.

To everyone not a Scientologist, read the links and be as confounded as I am that people actually believe this.

In all seriousness now, in the future, I do intend on learning about the main world religions as much as I can. Especially with all the conflict we see in our world today. I doubt any of the other religions will make me laugh out loud as this one did, though.